Happy Ville

A FULL MOON hung over Happy Ville last night, but that’s not its lingering display through the peach branches at the top. That’s a new WiFi antenna.

Here at the Hacienda we woke in high spirits today, so we’ve temporarily — perhaps permanently — renamed our home Happy Ville or, if you prefer español, Villa Felíz.

But there was work to be done, as ever, and I’ve been doing it for days. It’s cutting back summer yard growth. If this is not done, things fly out of control.

I’ve whacked one of the two daturas back to the nub. Same for the roses, and reducing the towering nopal horizontally* is an ongoing chore. And I’ve removed a goodly number of fronds from the big, malicious maguey.

Growing cull pile.

I’m dumping my culls out back in the Garden Patio. Already included are lots of aloe vera, the aforementioned maguey and assorted odds and ends. The pile will grow.

When I’m finished, I’ll hire Abel the Deadpan Yardman to wheelbarrow it down to the ravine out back.

* * * *

Morning Walk

It was such a lovely morning, I decided to take the longer route for my morning exercise walk. This took me to the far end of the barrio where, oddly, a snazzy, four-lane boulevard of cobblestone is being constructed.

One can enter our hardscrabble barrio principally from two directions. This is the direction we rarely use, mostly because it was a potholed nightmare.

This renovation is welcomed, but I wonder why it’s being done so elegantly. I mean, really, four lanes? This stretch is only about a quarter of a mile and funnels into another narrow, two-lane, cobblestone street.

Another two lanes planned for the left side. New sidewalks too!

It would have been sweet if they’d made this short boulevard just two lanes instead of four and used the leftover money to build a bicycle lane from here to downtown. We’ve written the mayor about that. He’s ignored us.

11 thoughts on “Happy Ville”

Thanks, Mike. With luck — something that’s unlikely to happen — we can get through this winter without a freeze. It’s happened in previous winters, but precious few of them. One good overnight freeze plays havoc with the yard. Time will tell.

Dunno why your comment was sent to the moderation pile. Should not have, of course.

Actually, it’s not the nicest house in the neighborhood, or perhaps it is, depending on one’s druthers. There is another Gringo mansion about three blocks from here. It’s on its third owner in the last 12 or so years, all Gringos. It was built with the assist of an architect — we hired no architect — and it’s one of those adobe things Gringos are so fond of building down here. It’s very impressive. I’ve never been inside though.

They have had trouble there, just once. The previous owners, if memory serves, were driving out — or in — their gate, and were confronted with someone with a pistol. I forget exactly how that turned out, but nobody was hurt. You rarely hear of that sort of thing hereabouts, at least with foreigners involved. That was likely at least 10 years ago.

That other place is on a lonely back street. We, on the other hand, are on the neighborhood’s main drag, quite visible, which I think works in our favor. Plus, we’re right next to a hotel that’s manned 24 hours a day, sort of an unintended security measure.

On second thought, I really don’t worry much, if at all. I did when we first moved here, and that’s why we left the property wall facing the street in its original, flaky painted condition for about four or five years.

Truth is that I feel safer here than I ever did in Houston. Maybe it’s an illusion.

PS: Also about a decade back, we heard lots of yelling coming from the direction of the sex motel. I looked over the edge from our upstairs terraza, and there was a battle-geared soldier with an automatic weapon yelling at some miscreant he had chased from the street into one of the motel’s garages.

No shots were fired.

We went through a spell about 8-10 years ago when the narco problem, and the government campaign against it, was fairly substantial in this area. It’s calmed down considerably since then.

I have often wondered. Never had much problem in Honduras, but that was before the narcos really got going there. It’s an issue with me. Here I have guns (lots of them). I know that’s frowned upon in Mexico, especially by gringos.